--- title: "Jerome T. Kearney | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/jerome-t-kearney-arkansas-us-magistrate" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-08" --- # Jerome T. Kearney U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas · U.S. Magistrate Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - State: Arkansas - Role: U.S. Magistrate Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-29 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - The Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, appointed in 2010 and serving on a renewable eight‐year term - First Assistant Federal Public Defender, Federal Public Defender’s Office - Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas, 2002–2010 - Assistant Federal Defender, Federal Public Defender’s Office - Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas, 1995–2002 - Assistant Federal Defender, Federal Public Defender’s Office - Western District of Oklahoma, 1990–1995 - U.S. Department of Labor/Solicitor’s Office in Dallas, TX (1987–1990) - Assistant Attorney General, State of Arkansas, 1985–1987 - Trial lawyer in the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office (1985) - Trial attorney in Pulaski County Public Defender’s Office (1982–1985) ### Education - Vanderbilt University Law School in The HistoryMakers — J.D. (1981) ### Additional information - Magistrate, District Court, E.D. Arkansas, 2010-present - He succeeded Henry Jones Jr. and has been active in the court since joining in April 2010. - Appointed to the federal bench in 2010 by the judges of the Eastern District of Arkansas, serving a renewable eight‐year term. - He has received the National Outstanding Assistant Defender Award (2006) and served on the Federal Practice Committee (1997–2008) The HistoryMakers. - Trial Attorney, U.S. Dept. of Labor, 1987–1990 - Assistant Public Defender, Pulaski Couty, Arkansas, 1982–1985 - Practitioner, 1982–1982, Pine Bluff, AR - J.D. — Vanderbilt Univ. — 1981 - B.A. — Vanderbilt Univ. — 1978 - Date of birth: 1956 - Private practice in Pine Bluff, AR - Assistant Federal Defender in Oklahoma City, OK - Senior litigator and later first assistant in the U.S. Federal Public Defenders’ Office in Little Rock, AR — the first African American to hold that role ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=73) - [Official roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=73) - [U.S. Courts judicial profile or roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=73) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9024/jerome-t-kearney/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9024/jerome-t-kearney/) - [BR/MAG Judge Database: Jerome T. Kearney](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9024/jerome-t-kearney/) - [BR/MAG Judge Database: Jerome T. Kearney](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/jerome-t-kearney-arkansas-us-magistrate", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/jerome-t-kearney-arkansas-us-magistrate", "name": "Jerome T. Kearney | KnowJudges", "description": "Jerome T. Kearney, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.